Deconstructing Crew
Okay, Icarus dropped a broad hint the other day on the radio, when asked whether crew members stacked. He said that it depends on the individual crew. That means that there's some variable or set of variables out there that determines how effective crewmen are going to be when they're together. A nasty little puzzle, isn't it? So here is the list of things we need to do to break this code. *'Identify the variables.' We need to figure out everything that might be different between different crew. This probably means there will be a fair number of red herrings. *'Experiment and record data.' This is the hard part. It's going to take a lot of study of a lot of interactions to see the patterns emerge. And there are a lot of things we might not write down unless we're looking for them -- which is why the first step is so important. *'Socially engineer the Devs.' Whole great swaths of work can be cut out if we can get the Devs to slip any information at all. Keep them talking! Everyone loves to brag about his own work. If anybody hears anything, post it here. Try to get it verbatim, if you can -- small changes in phrasing can be important. =Facts Known= Crew personality does not just affect how well they get along with other crewmates.http://badges.etc.cmu.edu/skyrates/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2630&start=15 =Identify the Variables= Here are the variables that could possibly be used to affect crew performance and interaction. *Happiness *Level *Your Leadership level *Job *Species *Your allegiance *Personality type *Name *Origin city *Origin city allegiance *Item being bought/sold (traders) *Random, hidden variable That's a lot to keep track of, and at least one of those things can't be determined--in fact, if that last one exists, this is all for nothing. If we can't make correlations, though, it will be good to know that trial and error is the only way to determine what works. What this means is that a single data point is going to have to include ALL of these variables (except of course the theoretical hidden one). Of these, it's easy to determine happiness, job, species (well, sort of), your color, name and origin city. To make things simple, I propose that any data gathered be done at full Happiness -- don't bother if they've gotten hurt recently. Oh, and we're assuming it's not based on crew coloration. Personality Types Personality type is something we don't have nailed down yet. However, we've identified six types so far, and a number of ways of identifying them. As far as I can tell, there are three possible things they'll say when they're at the Tavern, and at least three they'll say on the Crew page. I'm making up these names based on what they've said; they may change when we have more information on what they say in flight. Philosopher Tavern Quotes *If in your employ, I will endeavor to do my best. *Good day, Captain, may I be of assistance? *It's said that the most wealthy skyrate is he who has friends. Care to make a friend? Flight Quotes *The skies are as glass. We are but a brief glimmer. The sun sets, we go. *I remember the stories of when the land was land and the air was air. Not so anymore. *Go forth, Captain. I will follow. Mercenary Tavern Quotes *Come, come, let us make a deal. *I will certainly help you. But what can you do for me? *Greetings. I am sure we can come to a mutually beneficial situation. Flight Quotes *We must push our advantage. There is so much we can accomplish. *Where shall we direct our efforts? *Let us find the most optimal solution Egotist Tavern Quotes *I'm just the skyrate you're looking for, aren't I? *Come on, you know you need my help. *Need a hero? I'm just what you're looking for. Flight Quotes *Let's get to some action! *Bring it on! We've got an entire world to conquer! *They say there's something out there in the black. I mean to find out. Grump Tavern Quotes *Either hire me or move on. *Yes? What do you want? *Bah, hire me if you want. I'm sure I can find something to do. Flight Quotes *In my day we flew real planes. Buckets of junk, not like this fancy schmancy one. *I don't feel like talking to you right now. *Ever heard of the Upheaval War? Yeah, I was there. Wasn't pretty. Not pretty at all. Free Spirit Tavern Quotes *Knock knock. Who's there? Me looking to join your crew! *Want to be my friend? *Hi there! I'd love to fly in your ship! *Going on an adventure? I'd love to come! Flight Quotes *Wheeeeeeeeeee! *I see a cloud! I see the sky! Do a loop de loop! *Let's put down in the ocean, I want to go fishing! *Let's take the plane down to the sea to do some fishing! Please post anything else you hear them say, so that we can have a definitive personality identifier. Species Though the art is unquestionably superb, the species are not always entirely obvious. (For example, Third mentioned that one of them is a species of cat that I've never heard of and couldn't recall for my life.) I think it'd be good to have a gallery of the different crew species here, just so we can put names to them. Please help me out here! UPDATE! Since we blundered into Third's secret stash, and then he was kind enough to sit through my endless questions, we now have confirmed identities! I've crudely hacked up his grid image with labels. Note that not all of these are available as crew! Cats Image:Caracal_crew.png|Caracal Image:Cat_Boy_crew.png|Cat Boy Image:Chevron_Cat_crew.png|Chevron Cat Image:Lynx_crew.png|Lynx Image:Pirate_Kitty_crew.png|Pirate Kitty Dogs Image:Right_Dog_crew.png|Right Dog Image:Left_Dog_crew.png|Left Dog crew Image:Collie_crew.png|Collie Image:Dingo_crew.png|Dingo Other Image:Sloth_crew.png|Sloth Image:Raccoon_crew.png|Raccoon Image:Bear_crew.png|Bear Image:Elephant_crew.png|Elephant Image:Robot_crew.png|Robot Image:Lemur_crew.png|Lemur Image:Stuff_crew.png|Stuff Image:Armadillo_crew.png|Armadillo Image:Camel_crew.png|Camel Image:Seal_crew.png|Seal Image:Bull_crew.png|Bull Image:Platypus_crew.png|Platypus Image:Rope_crew.png|Rope Image:Rat_crew.png|Rat Image:Bunny_crew.png|Bunny Image:Deer_crew.png|Deer Image:Antelope_crew.png|Antelope =Experiment and Record Data= Sunhui Xia Olga Kalinin Phoebe Bagnold Hired at Cidade Hired at Valvia Hired at Eltsina Hired at Aleut Hired at Jordan =References= *